So you have decided to go for vinyl plank or tile effect flooring? Excellent choice! Super durable, vinyl (LVT) makes an excellent choice of flooring for all areas of the home. But entering the world of LVT vinyl flooring can be a maze of different brands all with their pros and cons. This article aims to arm you with the knowledge you need to answer the question once and for all – “What is the best vinyl LVT flooring?”
Looking for the best vinyl flooring? View our full range of luxury vinyl tiles online.
How to Choose the Best Vinyl LVT Flooring?
LVT (Luxury Vinyl Tiles) can all seem similar on the surface. However, if we dig a little deeper there are several key features to consider.
LVT Vinyl Flooring Thickness
Vinyl flooring has different thickness grades, starting at 2mm and usually ending at 5mm.
If you are wondering “what thickness of LVT vinyl flooring should I use?”, it is often not the most important thing to consider. The wear layer (see below) is the most important aspect, however for low traffic areas, such as a cupboard or spare room, you can easily get away with a 2mm vinyl floor tile or vinyl sheet. For areas with more traffic, like the hall or living room, you may want to consider a thicker one , or one with a better wear layer.
Vinyl Flooring Wear Layer
Think thicker flooring is naturally durable?
Sometimes it is. However, with vinyl flooring, it is the wear layer that determines the overall durability of the floor. The best choice for ultra-sturdy and durable flooring is to pick a thick floor with a thick wear layer to match.
The wear layer itself is a protective layer that sits on top of the flooring. This protects the floor from any scratches and marks.
Registered Embossing Quality
Luxury Vinyl Tiles can be embossed the same way paper can. Embossing is simply adding texture. Now there are two kinds of embossing; 1) registered and 2) blind.
Registered: Registered embossing is where a texture has some logic behind it. This usually involves the embossing replicating a pattern that matches an image. This image can express delicate detail, such as texture, which can be replicated using registered embossing.
Blind: Blind embossing does not follow an image, rather a pre-set mould or punch. Some detail is achievable, but blind embossing is used mostly for bold, 2D elements.
The quality of registered embossing is important when choosing the best vinyl floor. The texture is an important sign of quality. Embossing is there to replicate the true wood feel on LVT flooring.
Design and Quality of Visual Layer
The visual layer is what gives your flooring the overall design. Vinyl flooring can be engineered to be both sturdy, durable and realistic but at the end of the day, we are all looking for flooring that looks beautiful in our homes. Nothing less.
Company Reputation
After considering all of the technical and design features, a company’s reputation goes a long way. If a company is creating bad vinyl flooring, then their reputation will follow them – it is a very small industry and word travels fast. At the end of the day, no-one wants to buy flooring from a company that has a bad reputation.
Warranty
Some flooring manufacturers give a warranty. This can be an extra bonus when choosing the best vinyl flooring.
Luxury Vinyl Tile (LVT) Brands
Different brands obviously offer different features. However, does one LVT brand take a clear lead? Let’s have a look…
Karndean Review
Design wise Karndean’s luxury vinyl tile range’s visual layer is truly beautiful. The whole range is Inspired by nature (both wood and stone) and it truly shows. The embossing of Karndean flooring further reflects this natural style.
Karndean flooring is very thick, the wear layer itself is up to 0.7mm thick. The company has a great reputation with 4.6/5 on Feefo. Warranty-wise, Karndean offers an amazing 20-year warranty on some of its products.
Thickness: 10/10
Wear Layer: 10/10
Embossing Quality: 10/10
Design and Visual Layer: 10/10
Company Reputation: 9/10
Warranty: 9/10
Overall: 10/10 – A clear winner from Karndean that ticks all of our boxes with merit. When stunning design and style meat functionality and durability in flooring like this you have a solid base to build your family life around.
Shop Karndean here or visit us instore.
Amtico Review
Amtico’s design and the visual layer has a nice contemporary design and authentic feel with. Their LVT’s wear layer is typically 0.55m thick which is impressive. Amtico also offers a lifetime warranty on their signature range. Amtico also has a fantastic reputation with 9.4/10 on Flooring Megastore.
Thickness: 9/10
Wear Layer: 9/10
Embossing Quality: 10/10
Design and Visual Layer: 10/10
Company Reputation: 9/10
Warranty: 10/10
Overall: 9/10 – A solid choice of LVT for your home. The design is simply stunning with a clear contemporary feel. If you live in a modern apartment and want shiny floors that wow guests then Amtico is the perfect option for you.
View our range of Amtico Flooring Products.
Moduleo Review
Moduleo’s design layer focuses on realistic appearance and has a registered emboss texture. This flooring has a solid 0.55mm wear layer making it a decent choice for those looking for durable flooring. With a 10-year warranty, this flooring does fall a bit short compared to some other options.
Review wise, there are a lot of delighted customers. However, some customers are unhappy citing the floors rolling up at the edges. This is most likely due to poor craftsmanship when fitting the flooring. Make sure you go with a professional flooring contractor.
Thickness: 9/10
Wear Layer: 9/10
Embossing Quality: 9/10
Design and Visual Layer: 8/10
Company Reputation: 7/10
Warranty: 5/10
Overall: 7/10 – Moduleo is a great option for natural looking flooring with a brilliant range of wood and stone effects. It falls short regarding the warranty and reputation, however, their reputation issue will be down to the installation of the flooring and not the product itself.
View our Moduleo flooring range.
Colonia Review
Colonia by Polyfloor offers beautiful marble, slate, wood and stone effects that look excellent once installed. The design is subjective, but Colonia does not have the modern shine that Amtico has or the proper natural effect that Karndean has. Couple this with a low 0.2 wear layer and a very low 7-year guarantee Colonia does not fare well against other flooring options. A good saving grace for Colonia is the company’s reputation. The brand has a perfect 5-star rating on Houzz.
Thickness: 4/10
Wear Layer: 4/10
Embossing Quality: 6/10
Design and Visual Layer: 6/10
Company Reputation: 10/10
Warranty: 3/10
Overall: 5/10 – Colonia offers some really good colours suitable for any home. However, a low warranty and thin wear layer make this flooring incomparable to other flooring options. It does come in cheaper than more premium LVT options so could be a nice choice for fitting flooring on a budget.
Other Options
We have listed the top four best vinyl flooring brands in the UK. However, there are some other brands that deserve a mention.
Tarkett
Tarkett offers modern vinyl with an extensive range of colour options available. The flexibility offered by Tarkett can make this an appealing option.
Luxury Vinyl Tiles by Tarkett has cushioned underfoot making for a vinyl flooring solution that is slightly more comfortable than competitors/
Harvey Maria
Harvey Maria’s tiles are designed by some of the UK’s best-loved designers. This flooring brand is one of the coolest up and coming LVT providers with some cracking designs on offer.
Harvey Maria has tiles designed by the likes of Cath Kidston and are eco-friendly, hard wearing and look absolutely fantastic!
View more Harvey Maria LVT vinyl flooring here.
Forbo
Forbo offers a range of simple, fit for purpose vinyl LVT flooring products that are very popular in offices and other businesses.
Certain unique features are available with Forbo. For example, Forbo offers acoustic vinyl, slip resistant vinyl and loose lay vinyl.
So what are the best luxury vinyl tiles?
Overall the competition for best LVT vinyl flooring is very, very close between Karndean and Amtico. Both are extremely worthy choices. Moduleo is also a brilliant choice of luxury vinyl tile.
